Free Republic

Representative Stacey Newman. ​Well, well, well. The birth control debate has finally come to our swimsuit areas, gentlemen. Yesterday Missouri State Representative Stacey Newman (D-St. Louis County) filed HB1853, which would only allow a man to have a vasectomy when doing so would protect him from serious injury or prevent his death. Ah, the legislation's on the other set of genitalia now. Rep. Newman -- whom I'd like to nominate for Hero Squad right here and now -- has been frustrated with the recent political debates over birth control access and reproductive health. The legislation is her pointed way...

As members of Georgia’s House of Representatives debate whether to prohibit abortions for women more than 20 weeks pregnant, House Democrats introduced their own reproductive rights plan: No more vasectomies that leave "thousands of children ... deprived of birth." Rep. Yasmin Neal, a Democrat from the Atlanta suburb of Jonesboro, planned on Wednesday to introduce HB 1116, which would prevent men from vasectomies unless needed to avert serious injury or death. The bill reads: "It is patently unfair that men avoid the rewards of unwanted fatherhood by presuming that their judgment over such matters is more valid than the judgment...

I must say that I was pleasantly surprised (and by that, I mean completely astounded!) by the incredible number of hits received by yesterday's blog post. The subject matter was sensitive, controversial, and...well...pretty radical. I knew the post had the potential to ruffle some feathers, but this part of our story--from disobedience through conviction to restoration--is so utterly foundational to the rest of our story. Without this, you really can't have a full understanding of our spiritual timeline, and you can't fully appreciate the introductions to the rest of our children! As I said yesterday, Sweet Jimmy B listened patiently...

Having reached the half-way point of the Bennett children, we have arrived at an important landmark--one that warrants a brief hiatus between Jamie and Hannah. Before I take you on a guided tour of those three years of our lives, I feel it is important to issue a few cautions: Please keep your arms and legs inside the car at all times. This ride may not be suitable for the very old, the very young, or the infirm. This is an exhibition; not a competition. No wagering, please. Management is not responsible for TMI-induced nausea. If you are easily offended...

CHICAGO - A suburban Chicago urology practice says college basketball's March Madness tournament is the perfect time for men to get a vasectomy. Doctors at 21st Century Urology in Orland Park have launched a two-week ad campaign to induce men to schedule the procedure during the days before the first two weekends of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament, the Chicago Press Release Service reports. The doctors say picking that time slot for a vasectomy will allow basketball aficionados to stay home and watch all the games. All vasectomy patients will receive a free pizza to snack on and a bag...

When the going gets tough, the tough gets … fixed? We may be in a recession, but doctors performing vasectomies are see a little boom in business! I suppose kids can be quite costly, and this procedure can be viewed as an investment to pay future dividends? They looked at their statistics and realized the uptick started around November as the economic crisis deepened. October went down in the history books as one of Wall Street’s worst months. Since then, the Cleveland Clinic has seen a 50 percent increase in vasectomies, an outpatient surgery that is the cheapest form of...

Vasectomy has always been an unpopular operation in the dacoit-infested Chambal district of Madhya Pradesh, but it enjoyed a brief surge in popularity last year. More than 250 men put their private parts under the surgeon’s knife through 2008; this, in a place where the male sterilisation figure had never reached double figures in the past 20 years. They had an incentive: the government, in the form of Shivpuri District Collector Manish Shrivastava, had promised them an arms licence each if they underwent the operation. They did so in family planning camps where forms for gun licences were made available....

Your ability to father children in exchange for a speedy gun permit. Does this sound like a good deal to you? According to the Saturday Washington Times article, "India uses gun license as sterilization incentive," it's actually happening in India: Government officials in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh have begun offering fast-track gun licenses to men who agree to undergo sterilization, so they will not feel less manly. The region is part of Chambal Valley, notorious for its rampaging gangs of robbers and bandits, and many villagers desperately want to possess firearms. Vasectomy camps - regularly set up...

Vasectomies could be a thing of the past thanks to a remote controlled implant that can stop the flow of sperm. The valve-like device can be opened and shut at the press of a button, using the same technology that locks a car using a key fob. Scientists who invented the implant say it could be used as a form of male contraception. Men who change their minds about having children would then simply point the remote handset at their testicles and press a button to open up the valve. More than 40,000 vasectomies are carried out every year in...

Indiana Apologizes for Role in Eugenics Indiana's Health Commissioner Apologizes for State's Role in Developing Eugenics By KEN KUSMER The Associated Press INDIANAPOLIS April 13, 2007 (AP)— - Indiana sought to atone for its role in pioneering the state-authorized sterilization of "imbeciles," paupers and others it deemed undesirable, expressing regret for passing the first such law 100 years ago. Health Commissioner Dr. Judith Monroe said Thursday at a symposium at the Indiana State Library that Indiana needed to acknowledge and learn from its role in developing eugenics. "It is one that we do regret but we should not forget,"...

A billy goat did some rough, instant justice to the President when his motorcade stopped to refuel en-route to the eastern resorts of Nyanga. The president, popularly known as Bob got out to stretch his legs, and speak to a couple locals. He was holding a bottle of water, when a Billy goat developed a profound interest and chose to pursue it. Whilst Bob swung the bottle at the goat, it quickly and sharply pierced Bob's scrotum, and large bowel.

AN Australian health care provider is looking for a man with the balls to have a vasectomy on television. Not-for-profit sexual and reproductive health provider Marie Stopes International wants an Australian man to reproduce the efforts of a British man who submitted to the procedure live on TV last week. Father-of-one John Klapvijk, 40, went under the knife in the UK last week and said the worst thing about the operation was the ribbing from friends watching the footage. Marie Stopes International Australian CEO Suzanne Dvorak said the health provider wanted to dispel common misconception about the procedure, including pain...

“I was hoping this was about animals but it’s not,” Commissioners Vice Chairman Bill Caster said a few weeks ago as he looked over a meeting agenda. An item asking the commissioners to accept $2,700 from the state to fund sterilizations caught his eye. I’ll admit men are often a bit squeamish about that subject, but all North Carolinians have reason to squirm. A committee appointed by the governor is trying to figure out what to do for the more than 7,600 people sterilized between 1929 and 1974 under the authority of something called the Eugenics Board of North Carolina....

It's Child Support Guidelines that Need Surgery, Not 'Deadbeat Dads' By Jeffery M. Leving and Glenn Sacks Kentucky judge D. Michael "Mickey'' Foellger has offered men who are behind on their child support obligations a choice: have a vasectomy or spend 30 days in jail. However, according to a new study of child support, it is Kentucky's child support guidelines which need surgery, not so-called "deadbeat dads." The study, "Child Support Guidelines and the Equalization of Living Standards," was conducted by psychology professors Sanford Braver and David Stockburger and will appear in the soon to be released book The Law...

BANGALORE : The Legislative Council on Friday witnessed an interesting debate with a majority of the members, particularly those from medical background, gunning for mandatory sterilisation of married men, to check population explosion. When Jalaja Naik (Congress) raised the issue of women being forced to undergo sterilisation, many others joined in. M R Tanga (BJP) and M P Nadagouda (AIPJD), who are doctors by profession, contended that unless men were compelled to go in for sterilisation, no population control measure would succeed. "There is enormous social and family pressure on women to undergo tubectomy. Indian men have wrong notions about...